Charter Review Committee Considers Change To Century Mayor’s Role
September 15, 2021
The Century Charter Review Committee is continuing to explore a change in the town’s form of government that would transfer most of the mayor’s powers to a town manager.
The committee voted in July to that a charter rewrite would form a town manager-council form of government, making the elected mayor a weak position, perhaps mostly a figurehead. Tuesday evening, with only three members present, the committee discussed making the mayor a voting member of the town council — perhaps as one of the five members or even a sixth member allowed to vote only to break a tie.
According to Tuesday’s discussion, the mayor and council would not be responsible for hiring and firing employees; that duty would fall to with the town manager. The town manager would prepare the town’s budget, which is currently a mayoral duty.
It was noted that if the mayor were to be a voting member of the town council, he or she would not be allowed to discuss business with council members outside of public meetings due to the Sunshine Law. Contact with council members would instead by coordinated by the town manager.
If the charter review committee completes a rewrite, the changes would go the town council to decide if the recommendation will go on the ballot for a citizen votes.
ECSO, U.S. Marshals Arrest June Attempted Homicide Suspect
September 15, 2021
A man was wanted for a June shooting in Escambia County was arrested Tuesday by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Marshals.
Gregory Alanzo Brown, 32, was captured at a home in the 400 block of Tallow Tree Drive.
Brown was wanted for a June 16 shooting that took place in the 2100 block of West Fairfield Drive. Investigators said Brown used a gun to fire at a victim’s car, but did not strike the victim inside the vehicle. A bullet hole was found in the car.
Brown was arrested and charged with attempted homicide, deadly missiles, criminal mischief, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, display of a firearm during a felony, and discharging a firearm in public.
Brown was booked into the Escambia County Jail without bond.
Atmore Man Charged With Drug Trafficking After Fleeing From Police
September 15, 2021
The Atmore Police Department on Tuesday announced a drug arrest last week.
On September 9, the Atmore Police Department and agents from the Alabama Drug Task Force, arrested 32-year old Charlton Orlando Jones of Atmore on charges for trafficking in a controlled substance (synthetic cannabis), possession of drug paraphernalia, attempting to elude and resisting arrest.
According to Atmore Police Chief Chuck Brooks, Jones was seen driving in the area of America Drive. Officers conducted a traffic stop on Jones in order to serve outstanding Escambia County (AL) warrants.
Brooks said Jones fled from the officer, and the officer initiated a pursuit.
“During the pursuit, the officer noticed Jones throwing items from the car that was later identified as a controlled substance. The officer observed Jones,” Brooks said.
The suspect synthetic cannabis, commonly called spice, weighed 1,186 grams with a street value of $24,000, according to police.
DeSantis Wants To End FSA School Testing, Switch To ‘Progress Monitoring’
September 15, 2021
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday s announced a legislative proposal that will eliminate the common-core based, end-of-year, high-stakes Florida Statewide Assessment (FSA) in classrooms across the state.
Instead, he wants the state to create a “progress monitoring” standard called the new Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (F.A.S.T) plan. By creating the F.A.S.T. Plan, Florida will become the first state in the nation to fully implement progress monitoring instead of end-of-year standardized testing, and fully eliminate common core.
“This is going to be more student friendly. This is going to be more teacher friendly. This is going to be more parent friendly,” DeSantis said. “This is a big deal.”
“Florida’s education focus should be students’ growth and how we restore the conversation between parents and teachers in support of students’ growth,” DeSantis added. “In this final step to eradicate Common Core from our assessments, our administration is implementing the lessons learned from progress monitoring both during the state’s recovery and from our districts and schools that were already showing how we can better support students reaching their own unique growth goals.”
DeSantis made the announcement with Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran at High Point Elementary School in Clearwater, which is already using the progress monitoring approach. At the school, every student is considered to come from an economically disadvantaged family. They used progress monitoring tools throughout the 2020-2021 school year to make actionable decisions in real time, and the school was able to make a turnaround from a D to a C grade.
“We started by creating more flexible pathways to teacher certifications, elevating the profession through massively increasing minimum compensation, providing relief to our teachers who kept education going throughout our recovery and across-the-board increasing our focus on professional development and instructional supports,” Corcoran said. “Florida is now taking the next great step — using what many districts and schools have already proven to be true — that progress monitoring is a school accountability system that puts great information in the hands of our teachers, early and meaningfully, so they can drive students’ growth.”
DeSantis said the plan will reduce testing stress with much shorter tests in the fall, winter and spring that will inform students, teachers and parents about students’ growth, rather than a single lengthy end-of-year assessment that halts learning and leaves zero opportunity for improvement.
In addition, the governor said schools will reduce testing time an average of 75% through progress monitoring, increasing time for teaching and providing more timely, usable feedback to help students reach their unique goals.
Additional details are in the graphic below, which was provided by the Governor’s Office:
Explore Tech, Learn To Build Paper Circuits And Mini Robots At Molino Library
September 15, 2021
You can explore technology with a touch of engineering at the Molino and other branches of the West Florida Library.
Participants will lean to build paper circuits and mini robots with Cubelets with help from he library’s STEAM team.
Remaining program for the month include:
- Thursday, Sept. 16, 3 – 4 p.m. – Molino Library
- Saturday, Sept. 18, 1 – 3 p.m. – Genealogy Library
- Tuesday, Sept. 21, 3 – 4 p.m. – Pensacola Library
Pictured: The program was held earlier this month at the Century Branch Library.
Courts Closed On Thursday For Yom Kippur
September 15, 2021
Courts in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties will be closed on Thursday.
The courts of the First Judicial Circuit will be closed on Thursday, September 16 in observance of Yom Kippur. Regular operations will resume on Friday, September 17.
Northview Loses District Match To Baker (With Gallery)
September 15, 2021
The Baker Gators beat the Northview Chiefs in three sets Tuesday night in volleyball district play in Bratt.
Baker defeated Northview 25-10, 25-20, 26-24.
With the loss, Northview sits at 0-1 in the district but 4-2 overall for the season. Baker is 4-1, 3-0 in the district. Northview travels to Jay on Thursday.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Ninth-Inning Homer From Sims Keeps Wahoos Alive In Postseason Hunt
September 15, 2021
Demetrius Sims broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the ninth with a solo home run as the Wahoos came from behind to win the series opener 3-2 on Tuesday night at Toyota Field.
With the win, coupled with Birmingham’s loss to Montgomery, the Blue Wahoos are now 2.5 games out of the final AA-S playoff spot with only five games remaining in the season.
In the top of the ninth the Trash Pandas brought in Zach Liginfelter (L, 0-1) to try and keep the game at 2-2. With one out, Demetrius Sims belted a solo home run to right center to give Pensacola the winning run. Even though it was only Sims’s fourth home run of the season, it is the second time in two weeks that Sims has hit a go-ahead home run in the ninth inning.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Colton Hock (S, 19) grinded his way to his league-leading 19th save of the year. After back-to-back one-out singles in the bottom of the ninth, Hock turned a spectacular double play to end the game. Luis Aviles Jr. smashed a ground ball up the middle that Hock somehow stopped with the glove. After a clean throw to second, Sims threw out Aviles out at first for a game-ending double play.
The Blue Wahoos took the lead in the bottom of the first thanks a double from Kameron Misner and a sac fly from JJ Bleday. Misner now has four doubles in his last three games for the Wahoos.
Pensacola’s 1-0 lead was short lived. After a leadoff single from Aviles, the Trash Pandas used a hit-by-pitch and a pair of walks from Kyle Nicolas to score Aviles and tie the game at 1-1.
After Rocket City took a 2-1 lead, the Wahoos tied the game in the top of the fourth. With Griffin Conine at third, Sims singled to right to bring home Conine and tie the game at 2-2. Sims finished the night with three hits tying his season high.
Kyle Nicolas grinded through five innings for the Blue Wahoos in what appears to be his final start of 2021. He allowed two runs on two hits in five innings of work. Despite walking five he also struck out five in the no decision.
The Blue Wahoos will try to make it four wins in a row in the Wednesday’s contest. Pensacola ace RHP Max Meyer (6-2, 2.56) will make his 20th start of the year and he will be opposed by RHP Christopher Molina (5-1, 4.36).
Century Botches Tax Increase, Budget For Next Year
September 14, 2021
The Century Town Council totally botched an attempt Monday to pass a tentative property tax increase and budget for the next fiscal year.
An agenda for the public hearing improperly indicated that property taxes would not increase. Council President Louis Gomez read from agenda, and with a 4-0 vote the council approved no property tax increase. But the resolution required, and signed at the end of the meeting by the council president, sets a different millage rate than discussed and actually includes a tax increase.
Century’s accountant, Robert Hudson, sat through the meeting and did not correct the council’s misguided actions. The mistake was caught by NorthEscambia.com and pointed out to town officials after the meeting. We were the only members of the public to attend the public hearing.
The mistakes invalidate signed resolutions tentatively raising taxes and setting a budget because that was not the council’s actual vote. The percent of the increase as stated in the resolution was also calculated wrong.
It was not clear Monday night what Century’s next required step will be to right their failure, but it seemed that another public hearing will be advertised to redo the resolutions before final public hearing is held. The process needs to be completed before the new budget year begins October 1.
The intended council action last night was the first of two required approvals for a property tax increase with a millage rate of .9204, which is 7.1% greater than the rolled-back rate of .8553 mills. The rolled-back rate is the tax rate that would generate the same amount of property tax revenue as approved for the prior year.
A millage rate higher than the rolled-back rate is defined by Florida law as a tax increase and the town must advertise such, although the council was advised differently by their accountant.
“Y’all are not going up on the taxes,” Hudson advised the council “Even though a person’s real estate tax is going to increase, it’s increasing because the value of their property is going up.”
The town is proposing a $5.7 million budget for fiscal year 2021-2022, up from $4.14 million during the current fiscal year. The increase is mostly due to income from grants.
Mayor Ben Boutwell did not attend Monday’s meeting, and council member Leonard White was absent. White had advised the town clerk that he was unable to get time off from his job as a corrections officer. Council member James Smith, Jr., first spoke during the meeting using Zoom audio about nine minutes after the public hearing started.
Pictured: Century’s accountant Robert Hudson (foreground, right), and council members (L-R) President Luis Gomez, Jr., Sandra McMurray-Jackson and Dynette Lewis. Pictured below: Other than NorthEscambia.com, not member of the public attended the public hearing. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Atmore Finalizes Contract For New Ambulance Provider. And Why That Matters In Florida.
September 14, 2021
The Atmore City Council voted unanimously Monday afternoon to finalize a contract for a new ambulance provider. It’s an arrangement that’s been running without a formal contract since September 1, and an arrangement that could have impacts for Escambia County in Florida.
The Escambia County (AL) Health Care Authority (ECHCA) reached an agreement with MedStar to provide comprehensive 24/7 ground ambulance coverage for the greater Atmore market, replacing ASAP EMS. Officials have cited a poor response by ASAP as the reason for the change.
The MedStar ambulances are operating out of the former Atmore Fire Station 4 on Pensacola Avenue. The fire trucks and personnel have been moved back to the main Atmore fire station at city hall. Atmore Fire Chief Ronald Peebles said he’s confident the move will not have any impact of the quality of service provided by his department, even though that puts all of his fire trucks on one side of a town bisected by railroad tracks The Pensacola Avenue fire station, south of the railroad tracks, was closed about three years after Hurricane Ivan with no significant problems.
One of the MedStar ambulances in Atmore was moved from its previous post at the Flomaton Fire Station. D.W. McMillan EMS has assumed responsibility for providing ground ambulance service in the greater Flomaton area.
ECHCA has also contracted with MedStar to provide medical helicopter service to all of Escambia County, Alabama. MedStar’s Air Care 2 helicopter is currently based at Atmore Community Hospital.
Ambulances from Escambia County, Alabama, also respond to Florida under mutual aid agreements.
The Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue responds periodically to Atmore to assist with emergencies, and, a little more often, the Century Station of Escambia Fire Rescue responds to the Flomaton area.
As NorthEscambia.com reported in July, MedStar’s Atmore helicopter will also respond to North Escambia in Florida under a new “first call agreement” between the operator of ShandsCair and Escambia County, Florida.
NorthEscambia.com file photo.